U.S. Spies and
Angela Merkel: For Years, 'Guided by Wishful Thinking' (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)

"Anyone
who doubts lies were told needs to ask him or herself
two questions in particular: What prompted Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Chief
of Staff Ronald Pofalla and government spokesperson
Steffen Seibert to claim that there would be a no-spy agreement with the United
States? And what led them to say that the Americans themselves had proposed
one? … To put it plainly, during the talks the U.S. side didn't simply reject
the idea of a no-spy agreement outright. That caused the chancellor to
extrapolate that the U.S. side had proposed a 'no-spy agreement.'"

Responding
to a request from the Greens, the federal government says that during a number
of talks in the summer of 2013, the U.S. government demonstrated a 'general
willingness to negotiate' a no-spy agreement.

Because
Chancellor Merkel and government speaker Seibert commented at the time that the
Americans had extended the offer, Green Party Chief Whip Britta Hasselmann complains that the public and Bundestag were
misled.

In the
debate over the disclosure of the U.S. spy list of 'selectors', the government
doesn't want to commit to a timetable. The Left Party rejects the appointment
of a special investigator.

Berlin: Anyone
who doubts lies were told needs to ask him or herself two questions in
particular: What prompted Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Chief of Staff Ronald Pofalla and government spokesperson Steffen Seibert to
claim that there would be a no-spy agreement with the United States? And what
led them to say that the Americans themselves had proposed one?

Green Party Chief Whip Britta
Hasselmann has now made a demand. She wants to
know from the government what specific discussions and documents prompted the chancellor
- as early as September 11, 2013, which was a week and a half before
parliamentary elections - to say that the Americans were willing to negotiate a
no-spy agreement.

The surprising response: There were no such concrete
indications, which was clear to the federal government and its chancellor. That
emerges from the government's written response, which has been seen by SüddeutscheZeitung.

Vague Signals from
Washington; a Clear Message from Berlin

The response states that in the fall of 2013, the German
government and the Obama Administration discussed language that would be acceptable
to both parties, "along the lines of" a no-spy agreement. In various
discussions, however, no more than a "general willingness" to "enter
such negotiations," became "apparent" … "The Chancellor
also had knowledge of this assessment."

To put it plainly, during the talks the U.S. side didn't simply
reject the idea outright. That caused the chancellor to extrapolate that the U.S.
side had proposed a "no-spy agreement." In August 2013, it still
sounded as if it were set in stone, as Seibert reported: "On the American
side a verbal commitment to conclude such an agreement is already in place."
Today, we know that this was a rather singular interpretation.

With this, Seibert confirmed what Chancellery Chief of Staff
Ronald Pofalla had declared publicly two days
earlier. After a meeting of the Parliamentary Control Committee, which is
charged with overseeing the intelligence services, Pofalla
said, "The U.S. side has offered to conclude a no-spy agreement with us."

In response to an inquiry by the SPD
on August 14, 2013, the German government gave a similar, equally concrete
answer: "At the suggestion of the NSA, plans are underway to conclude an
agreement that has been verbally approved by the U.S. side: No violations of
respective national interests, no mutual espionage, no business-related
espionage and no infringement of respective national laws."

And as Chancellor Angela Merkel continued to insist in a
radio interview on September 11, 2013 no less, just days before federal
elections - the Americans were willing to "negotiate a no-spy agreement
with us."

The Greens: Public
and Bundestag were Misled

Today it is clear: This was all perfect nonsense. An e-mail
from January 8, 2014 sent by the U.S. side to German negotiator ChristophHeusgen clearly states,
"This will not become a no-spy agreement, as I think has been clearly and
consistently expressed by everyone on our side."

For Hasselmann of the Greens it is
therefore evident: If it were simply a matter of making an assumption based on
a "general willingness to negotiate," then the statement that such an
agreement existed at the suggestion of the U.S. was primarily "wishful
thinking on the part of the chancellor and Chancellery." Her conclusion is
clear, "The Bundestag and public have been misled."

The Government is Non-Committal

In the affair involving German assistance for NSA espionage,
the federal government is non-committal when it comes to deadlines. "The
consultation process [with the U.S.] is ongoing. There is no new progress,"
government spokesperson Seibert said in Berlin. He added that he didn’t want
join in the speculation.

Before finalizing discussions with the U.S. on the
disclosure of NSA search terms to the Parliamentary Control Committee, the
federal government won’t make a decision. The opposition would like the
government to produce the list containing millions of search terms ("selectors").

In the interim, the Left Party has announced its intention
to lodge a complaint against the grand coalition’s appointment of a special investigator
for the BND affair.

"That is completely inadequate and also out of the
question," said chairman of the Left Party Bundestag caucus GregorGysi in Berlin on May 20. If
the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party were to agree on
a person of trust, Gysi’s faction intends to file a
so-called constitutional challenge with the Office for the Protection of the
Constitution. According to coalition plans that have emerged so far, the
special investigator will be the only person granted access to BND files.